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Review : Marvel Select Thor - Thor 2, The Dark World (Diamond Select)

So far Diamond have released two Thor figures based on his Movie appearances, with a third due in Summer 2015 as part of their Age of Ultron releases. This review relates to the 2nd Release, that of Thor as seen in The Dark World. It is also this release which will be repainted for Age of Ultron and supplied with a new scenic base. The figure is reflective of the revised armour Thor wore in his second solo outing, albeit with bare arms - Thor's arms were armoured for most of the film, particularly the action sequences.
Diamond's packaging never fails to impress, and Thor is packed in the oversize blister with the usual high quality artwork to the side panel and a write up of the figure on the rear. In the box you get Thor himself, Mjolnir and half of a scenic base.
Once out of the box Thor stands a commanding 8" tall, which is about 6' 6" scaled up, and puts him the tallest of the "Human" Avengers and second only to Hulk. The sculpt on this is one of the best I have seen from Diamond so far in the Marvel Movie releases. The head is one of the best likenesses, and captures Chris Hemsworth very well. The hair is sculpted into a number of braided elements and flows out reasonably naturally onto the back and shoulders.
This Dark World version of Thor comes with non armoured arms, and these are sculpted with some muscle definition, but the arm articulation does impact this. There are sculpted bracers over each wrist and a detailed chest piece which runs into the chain-mail trimmed trousers and knee high boots/bracers. Thor's left hand is sculpted open as it summoning lightening, and the right is sculpted to hold the Hammer.
Mjolnir itself holds some detail but is obviously two pieces joined together and the join is clearly visible. The Handle is ribbed and sculpted as leather and there is a leather strap at the end, but this is in solid plastic so sometimes hangs against gravity. Thor is finished off with his signature red cloak which is nicely sculpted from pretty solid plastic and hangs pretty naturally..
Onto articulation and Thor is standard fare from Diamond. The head is on a pivot, but the hair restricts almost all movement. The arms are jointed at the shoulders to allow a 90 degree straight out position, and everything in between. There is then swivel on the biceps and a join at the elbow. Finally the wrists rotate. All this means Thor can achieve a good number of arm poses, but unfortunately not the one everyone would want - arm straight up holding the hammer and summoning lightening. It's the cloak that puts pay to this pose as its hard fixed over both shoulders.
Thor has a Torso joint which allows him to lean forward and backwards and twist a little from side to side. There is no waist articulation, so onto the legs which are jointed at the hips, but again are restricted in their movement due to the flow of Thor's armour. There is then a thigh swivel, knee joint and like most newer select figures there are ankle rockers to allow Thor to be planted flat footed into a pose.
Paint is fairly good. The head and skin has nice definition with a couple of subtle tones. Thor's eyes are also painted a striking blue, and there is a natural look to the lips and the goatee. The armour is predominantly black but within this there are some tone changes, indicating a darker wash. The chainmail on the legs is painted silver, but not too bright. There is nice red trim to neck area of the armour and underneath both bracers on the wrists. The armour is trimmed in gold, and it's here we get the first significant paint bleed with some gold bleeding onto the black armour underneath. The cloak looks to be flat red, relying on the sculpt to bring out shadows and highlights. Mjolnir is pretty plain with a silver paint on the hammer and a brown handle with the hint of a darker wash.
Thor, as mentioned above, also comes with a scenery piece which links up to that supplied with the counter part figure from The Dark World, Jane Foster. Combined the two pieces don't so much make up a base that you can stand the figures on - but rather a scenery piece depicting some fallen Dark Elves. This is nicely designed in terms of connecting together and is a half decent sculpt and paint job. The issue is, for me, it adds nothing - and I would have rather have seen some form of backdrop piece like the Cpt America Heli Carrier background - but obviously done in stone work with Asgardian decor.
Thor is a chunky, imposing figure and fits nicely into an Avengers display as well as going well with the Jane Foster figure in a Dark World situation. The upcoming Age of Ultron version is just a repaint, but I do prefer the silver trim that this AoU figure will have vs the gold on this version. Sculpt is one of the best I have come across to date and the paint job is pretty good with just a few blips. Articulation seems to have been added but with little consideration of the poses Thor can realistically achieve once the hair, cloak and armour are in place. The Hammer accessory is a bit of a let down due to the visible joint. All in all Thor does enough to get above 3 and into a 4 out of 5 score.